The Prayer that Jesus Could Not Resist (On Matthew 15:21-28)

 1. A Canaanite woman from that region came out, and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all.

Has it not happened to you? You pray, you shout, and He does not answer. Now, this woman knew that Jesus was hearing her shouting; we, sometimes, struggle to believe that someone is listening. Jesus did not answer her, but she knew that Jesus was good and that therefore He would help. Jesus did not respond, but the fact that He did not send her away gave her hope: “I will keep shouting.”

This is important. The disciples know that Jesus’ mission is related to the people of Israel, and so they do not understand why Jesus does not send her away. Jesus knew what He was doing: the disciples did not yet understand His plan. And so, his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” As if they were saying, “There is no point: You are not going to listen to her. Why do we have to bear with those shouts any longer?” Something similar may happen to you. When you pray, people around you may think and even say that it is pointless to pray. “Don’t you see? You pray, and nothing happens. Give up, Christian, give up praying! Your God is not interested!” What do you do in that situation? Do you keep shouting?

2. Here is something interesting. Jesus did not answer the woman, but He did respond to His disciples. He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus’ mission was not rejecting the gentiles, sending them away, but approaching the people of Israel, and then send His disciples to be the light of the nations. This was the reason He did not answer, but this was also the reason that He did not send her away. Salvation was not only for the Jewish but for all, and Jesus was the Savior of the whole world.

The disciples knew Jesus, but it seems that the woman knew Him and His plan better than them. She was convinced that Jesus was good, and therefore she knew that something good would come to her from Jesus. And so, the woman came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

3. He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” The last challenge to her faith was to hear from Jesus Himself that He should not listen to her, that she was not entitled to His help. It was true: the Jewish people were the only chosen people, and to them Jesus had to preach first and offer the fulfillment of God’s promises to their forefathers.

When we pray, something similar may happen to us. We may realize that we are not entitled to receive anything from the Lord, not because we are not the chosen people, but because, even if we are now, we have been unfaithful so many times that we may feel unworthy of God’s help.

Heaven is like a banquet. At the table of God’s children in Heaven, way up high, the saints enjoy God’s friendship and utmost blessings. We are here below, underneath that table of the eternal banquet, like those dogs under the children’s table. But dogs are also part of the family, aren’t they? “Yes, Lord, we are not worthy of your blessings, and we may even have been worthy of your punishments many times, but you love us, and we know that.” Faith is not only about knowing who God is, but also about knowing who we are before God. Faith is about knowing that God loves us not because we are worthy but because He is good and we have no one else. And so, the woman said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” I am not worthy, but You are free to love me, and You do love me, Lord.

4. Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

Her daughter was cured instantly because her faith was great. She believed that Jesus was good and merciful even when He did not respond to her at first. She believed in the value of prayer despite what other people said about it. She believed in the power of prayer even when she knew that she was not worthy of being heard. She trusted God’s mercy, because prayer is not asking for what we deserve from the boss, but rather begging for what we need from a Father who loves us.

We want from God many things, but all Jesus wants from us is this faith and this confidence. If we gave Jesus this faith, He would give us even what He seemingly does not want to give, He would give even what we are not worthy to receive, and He would give it immediately. Is it not almost impossible for a man to say no to his dog when it wants a little bite from the food in his hand? We are not dogs: we might be unworthy, but we are God’s children. How could Jesus say no to us?

Let us pray, let us beg, let us insist, and in this way, the blessings we cannot even imagine, the crumbs from Heaven itself will rain on our heads. Let us keep begging under the table…